Deportivo Pereira, current champions of the Colombian league, will fulfill his dream this Wednesday at 9 p.m. when he plays the first Copa Libertadores match in its history against an irregular Colo Colo, on the opening day of Group F.
At the Hernán Ramírez Villegas de Pereira Stadium, the Matecaña team, led by Alejandro Restrepo, will try to reverse the bad moment they are experiencing in the Colombian tournament, in which they have accumulated five games without wins and have still not been able to let go see the good level that led them to the title last year.
The team, currently 14th with 12 points, reach its first appearance in the Copa Libertadores after the backbone of the team that won the league title was disarmed, forcing coach Restrepo to start from scratch.
The main cards of the Colombian team for the debut are goalkeeper Aldair Quintana, whose level has grown; veteran centre-back Geisson Perea; midfielder Yilmar Velásquez, who has already been called up to the Colombian national team at the age of 23, and striker Arley Rodríguez.
The coach Restrepo assured during a press conference that he sees the players “with a lot of motivation, with a lot of desire to have a great tournament”.
“We know we are all starting from scratch now and we all want to make the most of this opportunity that football and life are offering us,” he said.
Colo Colo arrived in Colombia on Tuesday hoping to kick off their participation in Group F on the right foot, which also includes Boca Juniors and Monagas.
Gustavo Quinteros’ team had an irregular start to the season and currently occupy seventh place in the table with 14 points, four behind leaders Universidad Católica. However, the Cacique just beat Huachipato 1-0, who is second in the table.
Due to injury, the Argentinian-Bolivian strategist will not be able to count on left back Erick Wiemberg for this match and striker Matías Moya is also a doubt.
However, there will be some of the most notable players, such as Argentine Agustín Bouzat, midfielder Esteban Pavez, central defender Maximiliano Falcón and goalkeeper Brayan Cortés.
The white team will hope to progress past the group stage for the first time since the 2018 edition, when they reached the quarter-finals where they were knocked out by Palmeiras.
Source: El heraldo
I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.
